He told The Times of India: "I admire Ranbir. When I view him as an outsider, I can tell you he had the opportunity to be the next lover boy of the industry. But he didn't choose to be just that.

"He consciously chose to take some risks, like Barfi!, Rockstar, and he proved himself right."

Kunal added: "This is a fantastic time for Indian cinema with so many new concepts finding acceptance, so many new minds in technicians, writers, actors... coming together to make our cinema more global."